Printing apparatus



Aug. 27, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 17, 1964 INVENTOR 6 Robert L.Miller ATTORNEY g- 1968 R. L. MILLER PRINTING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet15 Filed Jan. 1'7, 1964 NS mQwmQZDI JOKPZOQ EOFOE INVENTOR Robert L.Miller ATTQRNEY mm E Aug. 27, 1968 R. L. MILLER PRINTING APPARATUS 4Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Jan. 17, 1954 r 6 8 e 4 4 l 2 O H N R ll E il E o GM 9| G M W M T m mm H A NT NT 8 U U. b

0 0 o C E C "w R Em EA MR A M i 7 Y A 0| F 8 all M S B 2 2g 6 8%? a z az 9 O! 4 a a M I 2 .V L H R M H x M m R C z 0 R R C O T T 1 A U 5 T T vA U %WW 2; M Em C 2 R M C R T w 8 2 2 2 United States Patent 3,399,297PRINTING APPARATUS Robert L. Miller, Olmsted Falls, Ohio, assignor, bymesne assignments, to Brunswick Corporation, Chicago, 111., acorporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 17, 1964, Ser. No. 338,411 11 Claims.(Cl. 235-92) This invention relates to printing apparatus in whichprinting characters are spaced around the periphery of type wheels, andmore particularly to printing apparatus wherein type wheels arecontrolled so as to position selected printing characters on theirperipheries in position to print in response to electrical intelligencein binary code form.

In one aspect, and in accordance with one object thereof, the presentinvention provides means for controlling type wheels in a printingmechanism by means of an elec tron optical system wherein a plurality oflight sources, energized in coded sequence, are utilized in combinationwith a unique decoding mechanism for the purpose of stopping the typewheels at preselected positions preparatory to printing.

In accordance with the foregoing object of the invention, there isprovided for each type wheel a disc which is coaxial with the type wheeland rotatable therewith as a unit. The disc is formed from materialwhich will permit light to pass therethrough. On one side of the discare a plurality of stationary light sources spaced along the radius ofthe disc and arranged to direct light beams against that one side of thedisc. On the other side of the disc is a photocell positioned oppositethe light sources and adapted to conduct an electrical current wheneverlight from any one or more of the sources falls thereon. By dividing thedisc into sectors, one sector for each printing character on theperiphery of the type wheel, and by having all but one of the sectorsdivided into one or more ring sectors which are opaque and radiallyaligned with one or more of the light sources, light will fall upon thephotocell to cause it to conduct as the disc and type wheel rotate untilthat sector having opaque ring sectors aligned with all energized lightsources reaches the location of the light sources and photocell to blockall light therefrom. At this point, the absence of conduction throughthe photocell is utilized to stop the disc and type wheel preparatory toa printing operation.

It will be appreciated from the following description that variouscombinations of energized lamps can be coded to various combinations ofopaque ring sectors to stop the type wheel at a preselected positionpreparatory to printing. Preferably, the light sources are energized inaccordance with binary notation, the first lamp, when energized, beingrepresentative of the binary hit one; the second lamp beingrepresentative of the bit two; the third lamp being representative ofthe bit four; the fourth lamp being representative of the bit eight; andso on. In this manner, the number of light sources required ismaterially reduced over a decimal system where a separate light sourcewould be required for each printing character on the periphery of thetype wheel.

As another object, the invention provides means for printing the ballresults and scores in a bowling game utilizing printing mechanism of thetype described above, and also employing solid-state electrical circuitelements, such as transistors, to convert pulsed electrical intelligencerepresenting fallen pins on a bowling alley pin deck into steady-statebinary code signals which are utilized to energize the light sources inthe aforementioned printing apparatus.

In accordance with this latter aspect of the invention, provision ismade for utilizing a minimum number of logic circuit units such as ORcircuits, AND circuits, flip-flops and the like. At the same time, theuse of solid-state circuit elements eliminates the maintenance problemsinherently present in circuitry utilizing mechanical stepping switches,relays, and the like.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification,and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic, partially broken-away and cross-sectional viewof the mechanical portion of the printing apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along line II-IIshowing, in elevation, a binary decoding wheel adapted for use inprinting ball results and scores in a bowling game;

FIGS. 3A and 3B, when placed end-to-end, comprise a detailed schematiccircuit diagram of the control system for the printing apparatus shownin FIG. 1 as applied to a system for automatically printing ball resultsand scores in a bowling game;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of one type of printing ap paratus withwhich the present invention may be used;

FIG. 5 is an illustration of the manner in which the printing or typewheels shown in FIG. 4 are moved in quadrature; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic circuit diagram of a system for controllingpositioning of the type wheels of FIG. 5 in accordance With theprinciples of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1, the printingapparatus shown includes three type wheels 10, 12 and 14 having printingtype 16 spaced around their outer peripheries. Since the invention willbe described in connection with a system for automatically printing ballresults and scores in a bowling game, it will be assumed that the typewheel 10 is utilized to print first ball results and that the type wheel12 is utilized to print second ball results in score boxes provided on aconventional bowling game score sheet, schematically illustrated at 18.The type wheels 10-14 can also be used in the manner hereinafterdescribed to print bowling game scores with the wheel 10 being used toprint units, the wheel 12 being used to print tens and the wheel 14being used to print hundreds. It will, of course, be appreciated that ifit is desired to print a team total on a bowling game score sheet, afourth type wheel may be employed to print thousands.

The type wheel 10 is secured to a central shaft 20 having its outer endsupported in a bearing block 22 and supported along its length byadditional bearings, not shown. Secured to the shaft 20, at the endopposite the type wheel 10, is a nylon or the like gear 24, the gearbeing secured to the shaft by means of a set screw 26. The gear 24, inturn, meshes with gear 28 which is slideably received on a main driveshaft 30, the main drive shaft 30' being driven by means of an electricmotor, schematically illustrated at 32. On 'one side of the gear 28 is abushing 34 which is secured to the drive shaft 30 so as to rotatetherewith. This bushing is in abutment with one side or face of the gear28 as shown. On the other side of the gear 28 is a second bushing 36secured to the drive shaft 30; while between the bushing 36 and gear 28is a leaf spring 38 which serves to urge the left face of the gear intosnu-g abutting relationship with the bushing 34. It Will be ap preciatedthat the assembly just described comprises a slip clutch arrangementwherein the leaf spring 38 Will normally urge the gear 28 intofrictional engagement with the bushing 34 so as to rotate with the shaft30. When, however, a braking force of sufficient magnitude is applied tothe gear 28 it will stop and slide on the drive shaft 30, whichcontinues to rotate.

With reference again to the gear 24 it has a plurality of detents 40projecting outwardly from its right face as viewed in FIG. 1. Any one ofthese detents is adapted to be engaged by a lever 42 which can be pulledinto engagement with the right face of the gear by actuation of asolenoid 44.

With this arrangement, it will be appreciated that upon rotation of thedrive shaft 30, and assuming that the lever 42 is not in engagement withany of the detents 40, the gear 28 will rotate gear 24, shaft 20 andtype wheel 10. When, however, the lever 42 is forced into engagementwith the right face of the gear 24 upon actuation of solenoid '44, thelever will engage one of the detents 40 to stop gear 24, shaft 20 andtype wheel 10. This, of course, will also stop gear 28; however theshaft 30 may continue rotation with the bushing 34 sliding on the leftface of gear 28.

With reference, now, to type wheel 12 it is connected through a tubularshaft 46 to a second nylon gear 48 which is identical to the gear 24just described and arranged to mesh with gear 50 on shaft 30', thislatter gear also comprising part of a slip clutch arrangement identicalto that of gear 28. Gear 48 is also provided with a lever 52 andsolenoid 54 which may be selectively actuated to engage any one of aplurality of detents 56 on the right face of the gear 48. Finally, thetype wheel 14 is connected through a second tubular shaft 58, which iscoaxial with shafts 20 and 46, to a third nylon gear 60 also identicalto the gear 24 and having a plurality of detents 62 on its right face.The gear 60- meshes with gear 64 on drive shaft 30, this latter gearalso comprising part of a slip clutch arrangement which operates in thesame manner as elements 28, 34, 36 and 38. The gear '60 and type wheel14 may be stopped while the shaft 30 continues rotation by actuation ofa third solenoid 66 adapted to force a lever 68 into engagement with theright face of gear 60.

As will hereinafter be explained, the detents 40 on gear 24, forexample, are positioned such that when any detent is engaged by thelever 42, the type wheel will stop with a printing character 1-6 at topdead center, preparatory to a printing operation. The same is true ofthe detents 56and 62 on gears 48 and 60, respectively. That is, they arecircumferentially spaced so as to stop the type wheel 12 or 14 with anassociated one of their printing characters 16 at top dead center.

The manner in which the impression of the printing characters 16 istransferred to the score sheet 18 is not described herein in detail.However, a suitable means for accomplishing this may, for example, bethat shown in copending application Ser. No. 166,633, filed Jan. 16,1962, or copending application Ser. No. 305,591, filed Aug. 30, 1963,both applications being assigned to the assignee of the presentapplication. In those applications, it will be seen that the entireprinting assembly including wheels Ill-14 may be moved upwardly with theprinting character at the top of any wheel engaging the sheet 18 whichis provided on its other side with a transparent back-up plate 19.Suitable inking means are provided for wheels 10-14 and the sheet 18 istranslucent such that the printed characters may be viewed throughtransparent plate 19.

Reverting again to the gear 24, secured to its hub portion is a disc70'. 'Radially spaced along one side of the disc at the zero or top deadcenter location are five small light sources or lamps A1, A2, A4, A8 andAZ. These lamps are such as to direct beams of light against a photocellelement 7-2 positioned on the side of the disc 70 directly opposite thelamps Al-AZ. The photocell 72 will conduct an electric current wheneverone or more of the light sources from lamps A1-AZ is directed thereon.In other words, the photocell 72 will not conduct only when all of thelamps A1-AZ are deenergized or their light beams are blocked from thefield of view of the photocell.

The lamps Al-A8, the disc and the photocell 72 comprise a means forcontrolling the type wheel 10 so as to position a preselected printingcharacter 16 at the top dead center position preparatory to printing.The manner in which this is accomplished may best be understood byreference to FIG. 2 showing the face of the disc 70. Be.- foreproceeding with the description of disc 70, however, it should beexplained that electrical intelligence inbinary code form is utilized tocontrol the lamps A1-A8. In this respect, the lamp A1, when energized,rep-resents the binary bit one; the lamp A2, when energized, representsthe binary hit two; the lamp A4, when energized, represents the binarybit four; and the lamp A8, when energized, represents the binary biteight. As will be understood, the number of lamps may be extended tosuit requirements, in which case the next lamp would represent thebinary bit sixteen; the next would represent the binary bit thirty-two,and so on. The lamp AZ does not represent in this case a binary bit, butis used to stop the printing wheel at the top dead center position shownin FIG. 2 at the completion of a printing operation. The manner in whichthis is accomplished will hereinafter be described.

In accordance with the well-known binary system, if lamps A1 and A8, forexample, are energized, this condition is representative of the decimalnumber 9; if lamps A4 and A2 are energized, this is representative ofthe decimal number 6; if lamps A1 and A2 are energized, this isrepresentative of the decimal number 3; and so on.

With specific reference, now, to the disc 70 shown in FIG. 2, it will benoted that it is divided into a plurality of sectors numbered 1 through0, X, (o) and F, however the spare sector and the split sector (0) arenot used on this particular disc. Each of the sectors, in turn, issubdivided into five ring sectors 73, 74, 76, 78 and 80. The ring sector73 is in the path of the light beam between lamp AZ and photocell 72;the ring sector 74 is in the path of the light beam between lamp A8 andphotocell 72; the ring sector 76 is in the path of the light beambetween lamp A4 and photocell 72; the ring sector 78 is in the path ofthe light beam between lamp A2 and photocell 72; and ring sector 80 isin the path of the light beam between lamp A1 and photocell 72.

As will be seen, lamp AZ is energized whenever all other lamps A1-A8 aredeenergized. Conversely, during a printing cycle when one or more of thelamps A1-A8 are energized, the lamp AZ is deenergized. The major portionof the disc 70 is transparent except for the blackened ring sectorsshown in FIG. 2, which are opaque. Thus, whenever one of these opaquering sectors reaches the top dead center position it will block lightbetween its associated lam-p A1-A8 and the photocell 72. Rememberingthat the photocell 72 will conduct whenever light from any one of thelamps Al-AS is directed thereon, it can be seen that by providing apattern of opaque ring sectors which matches the energized lamps, lightfrom the lamps will be blocked from the photocell 72 whenever thatparticular combination of opaque ring sectors reaches the top deadcenter position which matches the corresponding combination of energizedlamps A7-A8. As will hereinafter be seen, the absence of conduction inthe photocell 72 can then be used to deenergize the solenoid 44, therebystopping the type wheel 10 such that the printing charactercorresponding to the binary code established by the lamps Al-AS isstopped at top dead center. Let us assume, for example, that theelectrical intelligence fed to lamps A1-A8 indicates that a 3 should beprinted by the type wheel 10. Under these circumstances, the lamps A1and A2 will be energized. As will hereinafter be explained, the systemis such that the gear 28 will rotate the gear 40 through a maximum ofabout 720 or two complete revolutions. Furthermore, the gear and disc 70always rotate in the direction of arrow 82 shown in FIG. 2. In order forthe system to operate properly, the direction of rotation always must bethat indicated by the arrow 82, and the lamps A1-A8 must not beenergized until the angular position of disc 70 is that shown in FIG. 2with the number 1 position just to the right of top dead center.Accordingly, the lamp AZ is provided which becomes energized initiallyin the printing cycle before lamps Al-A8 become energized. Energizationof lamp AZ causes energization of solenoid 44; whereupon the lever 42will release gear 24 and disc 70 which rotate in the direction of arrow82 until opaque area 71 is reached. At this point, the photocell 72 willdeenergize solenoid 44 to stop the disc and printing wheel at the topdead center position. Lamp AZ remains energized until motor 32 hasrotated through a sufficient number of revolutions to rotate gear 24through a minimum of at least one revolution. This will bring disc 70 tothe top dead center position regardless of its angular position duringthe preceding printing operation.

Let us assume, for example, that the number 1 was printed during thepreceding printing operation and that lamps A1 and A2 are to beenergized during the next printing operation, indicating that theprinting character representing the numeral 3 should be positioned attop dead center on printing wheel preparatory to the succeeding printingoperation. Under these circumstances, lamp AZ will be energized and disc70 will rotate in the direction of arrow 82 until opaque area 71 isreached, whereupon solenoid 44 will become deenergized to stop the disc.Thereafter, lamps A1 and A2 become energized to again energize solenoid44, and the disc 70 continues to rotate. As the number 1 sector on disc70 passes between the lamps and photocell, only the ring sector 80 infront of lamp A1 is opaque, meaning that light from lamp A2 will stillshine on the photocell 72. When the second sector passes the lamps, ringsector 78 in front of lamp A2 will block its light from the photocell72; however ring sector 80 in sector 2 is transparent so that light fromlamp A1 still shines on the photocell 72. When, however, the thirdsector is reached, both ring sectors 78 and 80 are opaque; and sinceonly lamps A1 and A2 are energized, all light will be blocked from thephotocell 72. This act-uates circuitry in a manner hereinafter describedto deenergize the solenoid 44 and stop the type wheel 10 at the number 3position. When the gear 24 stops, the gear 28 also stops; however theshaft 30 continues to rotate through an amount sufficient to effect twocomplete revolutions of gear 24 with the gear 28 sliding on the shaft.

The operation of the gears 48 and 60 is the same as that just described,the gear 48 being provided with five lamps B1, B2, B4, B8 and BZ and aphotocell 88 on the side of a disc 90 which is similar to the disc 70just described. Finally, the gear 60 is provided with five lamps C1, C2,C3, C4 and CZ on one side of a disc 92. On the other side of the disc 92is a photocell 94 which serves the same purpose as the photocell 72 justdescribed.

Reverting again to FIG.2, since it is assumed that the type wheels 10-14are utilized to print ball results and scores in a bowling game, thefirst nine and thirteenth sectors are representative of the numerals1-0, the tenth sector is representative of a strike indicated by thesymbol (X), the eleventh sector is representative of a spare indicatedby the symbol the twelfth sector represents a blow indicated by thesymbol the fourteenth sector represents a split indicated by the symbol(0), and the fifteenth sector represents a foul indicated by the symbol(F). The disc 90 for the second type wheel 12 will be the same as thatshown in FIG. 2. However, whereas the spare sector need not be used forthe first ball wheel 10, it is used for the second ball wheel 12 andbonus ball wheel 14 for a spare indication U). The strike (X) indicationis still needed on the disc 90 since a strike can occur on the secondball in the tenth frame of a game. Finally, the third disc 92 utilizesonly the 1, 2, 3, (X), (0), U) and (F) sectors since it is utilized onlyto print hundreds in a score printing operation and since the maximumachievable score in a bowling game is three hundred. Of course, if it isdesired to print a team total, the sectors representative of 4-0 willhave to be added to disc 92 along with a fourth disc and type wheel toprint thousands.

If an energized lamp is indicated in binary notation by a l and adeenergized lamp by a 0," the printer code will be as follows:

1 Blank (no character printed, all lamps deenergized).

s lit.

Furthermore, from a consideration of the disc shown in FIG. 2, it can beseen that light will always shine on its associated photocell until thesector is reached, corresponding to the energized lamps, assuming thatthe cycle is alway initiated from the starting position shown in FIG. 2with lamp AZ extinguished and with the disc rotating in the direction ofarrow 82. This is not necessarily true, however, if the lamps areenergized when the disc starts rotating at some position other than thatshown in FIG. 2. It is for this reason that the disc is always broughtto the position shown in FIG. 2 before the lamps A1-A8 are energized byenergizing lamp AZ to rotate the disc to top dead center where theopaque area 71 blocks its light from the photocell. It also explains whythe rotation of shaft 30 must be such as to rotate the discs throughalmost two complete revolutions. That is, the discs, gears and printingwheels remain in their previously established positions following aprinting operation. Let us assume that a number 1 was printed by thesecond ball wheel 12 in the previous cycle and that the energization oflamps B1-B8 on the next cycle indicates that a foul mark (F) should beprinted. It will then take almost one complete revolution for the discto reach top dead center and almost another complete revolution for thedisc to reach the foul (F).

Referring now to FIG. 3, the manner in which pinfall may be electricallycomputed and converted to binary form for utilization by the printingapparatus will now be described. However, before considering thespecific circuits of the invention, it would be well to consider thebinary number system in general. This system uses the radix 2 ratherthan 10 as in the conventional decimal system. Therefore, it has onlytwo coeflicients, namely, 0 and 1.

For example, the number 3 may be written in binary form as follows:

3:011 which is shorthand for:

Similarly, the numbers 4 and 5 may be written in binary form as follows:

which is shorthand for:

It can be seen that any binary number may be represented by anappropriate combination of the two binary coeflicients, 0 and 1,although it requires fewer of these two binary coefficients inappropriate combination to represent a given magnitude than it does torepresent the same magnitude using decimal coefiicients. The followingtable illustrates the binary representation of the numbers 1 through 10wherein each variable or bit X varies between and 1 only as describedabove:

TABLE I.REPRESENTATI ON OF BINARY NUMBERS X3 X4 X2 X 0 0 U 1 0 0 1 O 0 01 1 O 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 O O O 1 0 0 1 1 O 1 0 In additionto being representative of numbers, the binary bits may also representother notation. Since, in the bowling game, it is necessary to indicatestrikes, spares, blows and fouls, these may be arbitrarily indicated inbinary form as follows:

Strike (X) 1 0 1 0 Blow 1 0 Spare 101 1 Foul (F) 1 1 1 1 Split (0) 1 1 10 This, of course, corresponds with the code given above for the discs.

With specific reference now to FIGS. 3A and 3B the pins remainingstanding after each ball is delivered in a bowling game may be detectedby means of a standing pin detector, generally indicated at 9 6, whichmay be of the general type shown in copending application Ser. No.221,701, filed Sept. 7, 1962 and assigned to the assignee of the presentapplication. The output of the standing pin detector is a series ofpulses in digital form representaiive of the number of pins which remainstanding after each ball is delivered in a game. Suppose, for example,that six pins remain standing after the delivery of a ball. Under thesecircumstances, the pinfall detector will produce six output pulses whichpass through a computer control circuit 98 to a lead 100.

The circuitry shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B includes a total frame counter102 and a ball results counter 104, each consisting of a plurality offlip-flop units connected in cascade. Thus, the total frame countercomprises four flip-flops T1, T2, T4 and T8; while the ball resultscounter comprises four flip-flops R1, R2, R3 and R4. As is well known tothose skilled in the art, each of the flip-flops comprises a circuithaving two states of stable equilibrium, The circuit remains in one ofits two states of equilibrium until an external pulse is applied whichreverses these stable states of equilibrium.

As in all digital control systems, the various circuit elements arecontrolled by either ON" or OFF signals which are positive and negativesignals, respectively, Furthermore, it will be assumed that an ON or apositive signal is represented by 0 in the binary notation given aboveand that an OFF or negative signal is represented by a 1. Thus, if anAND circuit in the system of FIGS. 3A and 3B is marked +A, it means thatON or 0 signals must appear on all of its input leads before an outputON or 0 signal will be produced. Similarly, an AND circuit marked Ameans that OFF or 1 signals will have to be on all of its input leadsbefore an output OFF or 1 signal is produced.

The problem of converting standing pin count to fallen pin count can berepresented by the following equations:

pins, first ball; and

FP ='SP SP where FP is fallen pins, second ball, and SP is stand ingpins, second ball. These equations are solved in the ball resultscounter 104; while the factor SP is stored in counter 102 after thedelivery of the first ball. As will be seen, the standing pin count,first ball (SP is first stored in the total frame counter 102 andthereafter transferred to the counterf 104 preparatory to thedetermination of fallen pins, second ball (FP Furthermore, the totalframe counter 102 serves to produce a number of pulses in digital formequal to the total number of fallen pins in any frame, these pulsesappearing on lead 106.

Each of the counters 102 and 104 is provided with four output leads,those for counter 102 being indicated by the numerals 102-1, 102-2, 1024and 102-8. ON or 0 signals on these leads indicate the binary bits 1, 2,4 and 8, respectively. In a somewhat similar manner, the counter 104 isprovided with four output leads identified by the numerals 1041, 104-2,104-4 and 104-8. In this case, however, OFF or 1 signals indicate thebinary bits 1, 2, 4 and 8, respectively.

By the addition of AND circuit 108, the counter 102 becomes a binarydecimal counter. That is, it will count up to ten and then be reset to 0rather than counting to sixteen as would be the case if the counterconsisted solely of four flip-flop units connected in cascade. This isaccomplished by connecting leads 1028 and 102-2 to the input of ANDcircuit 108 together with lead 110 at the output of OR circuit 112. ONpulses representing standing standing pins will pass through the ORcircuit and be fed to the flip-flops Tl-TS. When ten such pulses are fedto the counter 102, ON signals will appear on leads 1022 and 102-8 whileOFF signals will appear on leads 102-1 and 102-4. In accordance with thebinary notation given above, this means that the counter has counted tenpulses. 0n the tenth pulse, lead 110 has an an ON signal thereon whichenables the AND circuit 108 to produce an output ON signal on lead 109.This resets flip-flops T2 and T8 so that all OFF signals appear on leads102-2 to 102-8 and the counter counts from one.

Connected to leads 102-1 and 102-8 is a second AND circuit 114. This ANDcircuit, being connected to the leads 1021 and 102-8 representing 1 and8 is enabled after nine pulses are counted by the counter 102. When apulse thereafter appears on lead 116 connected to the output of aten-pulse generator 118, a pulse will pass through AND circuit 114 toreverse the stable states of a flip-flop unit 120. The flip-flop unit120 is also connected to a lead 122 which is energized by the computercontrol circuit 98 only after the second ball standing pin detectionoperation is completed. The pulse on lead 122 actuates the flip-flop toenable :an AND circuit 124 and also activates the ten-pulse generator118 to apply ten pulses to lead 116 which is also connected to ANDcircuit 124. The manner in which the circuitry is utilized to determinethe total number of fallen pins in a frame will hereinafter bedescribed.

With reference, now, to the ball results counter 104 it is preset to tenby a pulse on lead 128 which passes through OR circuit 129 and producesOFF or 1 signals on leads 104-2 and 1048. The pulse on lead 128 appearsat the beginning of each frame in the game. The pulses on lead 100 dueto standing pins are also applied to the counter 104. In applying thepulses due to standing pins to counter 104, it effectively counts downfrom ten by an amount equal to the number of standing pins. For the caseassumed where six standing pins remain standing, the counter 104 willcount down 6, meaning that it will now store four with lead 104-4energized by an OFF or 1 signal. In accordance with the binaryrepresentation given above, the signals on leads 104-1 to 1048 arerepresentative of 0100 or 4" and, in effect, the counter 104 has solvedthe equation:

FP 10-SP given above to determine the first ball fallen pin count.

The OFF or 1 signal on lead 104-4 passes through OR circuit -4 to ANDcircuit AA-4. Also connected to the AND circuit AA-4 is a lead 130 whichis connected to the computer control circuit 98 and has an OFF or 1signal thereon during the first ball cycle and printing sequence. Thesignal on lead 130 may be produced in various ways, one of which isshown in copending application Ser. No. 175,865, filed Feb. 9, 1962.Alternatively, it may be produced by an automatic pin-spotter whichoperates in accordance with a first ball or second ball cycle.Accordingly, two OFF signals appear at the inputs to AND circuit AA4 toenable energization of lamp A4. Following this procedure, the computercontrol circuit 98 energizes the motor 32 (FIG. 3B) through lead 133 andthe motor control circuit 134 to rotate the drive shaft 30 shown inFIG. 1. At the same time, initial energization of motor 32 will cause,through the motor control circuit 134 and leads 135, energization oflamps AZ, BZ and CZ. As the motor continues to rotate, each of the discs70, 90 and 92 will rotate to their top dead center positions. After asufficient number of revolutions of the motor 32 to rotate each of thegears 24, 48 and 60 through one complete revolution, the photocells 72,88 and 94 will deenergize the solenoids 44, 54 and 66 through amplifiers142, 152 and 164, respectively. At this point, the lamps AZ, BZ and CZare deenergized through leads 135; and

the remaining lamps are enabled or adapted to be energized through lead137.

In the example given above where two OFF signals appear at the inputs toAND circuits AA-4 to enable energization of lamp A4, lamp A4 will beenergized after the disc 70 is positioned at the top dead centerposition, thereby energizing the solenoid 44, whereupon the disc 70continues to rotate in the direction of arrow 82. When the disc 70reaches the fourth sector where the light from A4 is blocked from thephotocell 72, the amplifier 142 will be actuated to deenergize thesolenoid 44, thereby stopping the disc 70, gear 24, and the type wheel10 with the printing character 4 at the top dead center positionpreparatory to printing.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that if, on the other hand,six pins are knocked down with the first ball in a frame rather thanfour given in the above example, leads 104-2 and 104-4 will beenergized, lamps A2 and A4 will be energized and the photocell 72 willconduct until the sixth sector is reached, whereupon the solenoid 44will be deenergized to stop the type wheel 10 with the number 6 printingcharacter at top dead center preparatory to printing.

After the first ball results printing operation has been completed inthe manner described above but before the second ball detectingoperation, a pulse appears on lead 146 (FIG. 3A) and resets theflip-flops Rl-R8 of counter 104 to 0. This pulse on lead 146 is alsoapplied through a delay network 148 to AND circuits ATl, AT2, AT4 andAT8, thereby enabling these circuits. Remembering that six pulses due tostanding pins were counted by counter 102 and that leads 102-4 and 102-2have ON signals thereon, these signals will be applied through ANDcircuits AT2 and AT4 to flip-flops R2 and R4, thereby causing theseflip-flops to produce OFF signals on leads 1042 and 104-4, representingthe six standing pins remaining after the delivery of the first ball. Ineffect, this operation transfers the standing pin count from counter 102to counter 104.

Now, upon the delivery of the second ball, the standing pin detectorwill produce a number of pulses equal to the number of pins which remainstanding after the delivery of the second ball. Let us assume that inthe case given two additional pins were knocked down with the secondball, meaning that four pins remain standing. Before the second balldetecting cycle, a pulse appears on lead 126 to reset counter 102whereby it begins counting from zero. This pulse can also be producedwith the apparatus shown in the aforesaid copending application Ser. No.175,865

or by an automatic pin-spotter after it has completed a first ball cycleand before the second ball cycle. However, the pulse will not appear ifa foul occurs upon the delivery of the second ball, indicating that thesecond ball pinfall should not be counted. The four pulses due to thestanding pins remaining after the second ball are now stored in counter102. At the same time, the four pulses due to standing pins are appliedthrough lead to counter 104 which again counts down; however in thiscase it counts down from six rather than ten due to the fact that it waspreset to 6 by transferring the first ball standing pin count fromcounter 102 to counter 104. Thus, since the four pulses are delivered onlead 100 due to the standing pins after the second ball, the counter 102counts down to two, meaning that lead 104-2 has an OFF signal thereon.This, then, indicates that two pins were knocked down with the secondball and solves the equation:

given above. The OFF signal on lead 104-2 passes through OR circuit O2to AND circuits AA-2 and BA2. During the second ball cycle, however, theOFF signal on lead 130 becomes an ON signal which disables AND circuitsAA1 to AA-8 while enabling the AND circuits BA-l to BA-S throughinverter 148. Consequently, lamp B2 will now be energized. At thecompletion of this operation, a pulse again appears on lead 133 toinitiate rotation of the motor 32. The disc for the second gear 48 willnow rotate until its second sector reaches the position of photocell 88at which time the enabling signal will be removed from the amplifier 152and the solenoid 54 will be deenergized to stop the type wheel 12 at theposition where the number two printing character is at top dead centerpreparatory to the printing of a second ball result.

Since the counter 102 was reset to 0 before the second ball scanningoperation, it has four pulses stored therein since there are fourstanding pins remaining. After the standing pins remaining after thesecond ball are detected, or after no pins are detected after a strikewith the first ball, a pulse appears on lead 122 to reverse the stablestates of multivibrator and enable the AND circuit 124. At the sametime, the pulse on lead 122 energizes the ten-pulse generator 118 whichproceeds to produce ten pulses on lead 116. These ten pulses passthrough the OR circuit 112 and are counted in counter 102 which alreadyhas four pulses stored therein. At the same time, as long as AND circuit124 is enabled, the pulses from pulse generator 118 will passtherethrough to lead 106 where they are counted in a player totalcounter comprising a units decade counter 128, tens decade counter andhundreds decade counter 132.

For the case assumed where four pulses are stored in counter 102 due tothe fact that four pins remain standing and six pins were knocked downin the frame, the first five pulses will advance through counter 102.Upon reaching the fifth pulse, the AND circuit 114 will be enabled sincethe count of the counter is now 9. Up to this point, five pulses havepassed through AND circuit 124 to lead 106. Upon the delivery of thesixth pulse on lead 116, which also passes through AND circuit 124 tolead 106, a pulse appears at the output of AND circuit 114 to switch thestable states of the multivibrator 120, thereby disabling the ANDcircuit 124. Consequently, the remaining four pulses from the tenpulsegenerator 118 do not pass through AND circuit 124. The result is thatsix pulses appear on lead 106, equal to the total number of pins knockeddown in the frame.

As was mentioned above, these pulses on lead 106 representing totalfallen pin count are passed to the counters 128-132. Actually, there isa total counter for each player in a game, only one of such countersbeing shown herein for purposes of simplicity. The unit counter 128 hasfour leads 156 representing the binary bits 1, 2, 4 and 8; the tenscounter also has four output leads 158 representing the binary bits 1,2, 4 and 8, but the hundreds decade 132 has only two output leads 160representing the binary bits 1 and 2. The reason for this is that in theparticular embodiment shown herein, the maximum score achievable by anyone player is 300. Of course, if a team totalizer is employed, it willbe necessary to provide four outputs from the hundreds decade 132 aswell as a thousands decade.

After the first and second ball results have been printed in the mannerdescribed above, a pulse appears on lead 162 to enable AND circuits 163which are connected to the outputs of leads 156, 158 and 160. Here,again, the pulse on lead 162 can be derived from an automaticpin-spotter or from apparatus shown in the aforesaid copendingapplication Ser. No. 175,865. Thus, the binary signals from units decade128 serve to energize selected ones of the lamps A1-A8; the binaryoutputs from the tens decade 130 serve to energize selected ones of thelamps Bl-B8; the binary outputs from the hundreds decade 132 serve toenergize selected ones of the lamps C1 and C2. When an enabling signalappears on lead 162, a pulse again appears on lead 133 to initiate ascore printing cycle. The score printing operation is the same as thatdescribed above in connection with the results printing cycles exceptthat all three sets of lamps and all three photocells 72, 88 and 94 areutilized. In this case, the solenoid 66 is controlled by an amplifier164. Let us assume, for example, that in the eighth frame of a game theplayers accumulated score is 165. Under these circumstances, the lampsA1 and A4 will be energized; lamps B2 and B4 will be energized, and thelamp C1 will be energized, thereby stopping the type wheel 10 at 5, thetype wheel 12 at 6 and the type wheel 14 at 1. At the completion of thegame, a pulse is applied from the computer control circuit 98 throughlead 169 to the counters 128, 130 and 132 to reset them to zero,preparatory to the next game.

The manner in which strike, spare, blow and foul indications are printedwill now be explained. If a strike occurs it will, of course, occur uponthe delivery of a first ball in a frame, except in the last or tenthframe where it can occur on the first, second or bonus ball, or allthree of these. Furthermore, if a strike occurs, the counter 104 willnot count down from ten, meaning that OFF signals will appear on theleads 104-2 and 104-8. By providing on each disc 70, 90 or 92 the sectorbeyond the numbers 1 through 9 marked (X) where the 2 and 8 sectors areopaque (FIG. 2), the type wheel 10 will stop at this position where itis provided with an (X) on its periphery which is printed on the scoresheet.

If a blow occurs on either the first or second ball of a frame, it meansthat no pins have been knocked down upon the delivery of that ball, withthe result that the counter 104 will count down from either ten, or thestanding pin count, second ball, to zero. The result is that ON signalswill now appear on all leads 104-1 through 104-8. These ON signals areapplied through AND circuit 172 which, through inverter 178, applies OFFsignals to OR circuits O-4 and O-8. Thus, the appropriate disc will stopat the sector marked in FIG. 2 where the 4 and 8 ring sectors areopaque. This sector is aligned with a printing character on theappropriate printing wheel.

If a spare should occur it will, of course, occur during the delivery ofa second ball. It will be remembered that after the first ball resultsare printed and the second ball is rolled, the counter 104 is reset tozero, and the first ball standing pin count is transferred to counter104 from counter 102. If the second ball rolled achieves a spare, nostanding pins are counted; and, therefore, a number equal to the firstball standing pin count is registered in counter 104. This could becorrectly printed at this time as the second ball fallen pin count,except that when a spare occurs it is desired to print the spare mark inplace of this number. In order to accomplish this it is necessary, bysome other means, to detect the spare. Since the counter 102 is clearedto zero at the start of the second ball pin scan, it is still atzero atthe end of the pin scan in the case of a spare where all pins areknocked down with the second ball. In order to detect this condition, anAND circuit 142 is connected to all of the output leads 1021 to 1028 andwill produce an output on lead 152 when the count of counter 102 iszero. The output on lead 152 is applied to an AND circuit 164 along withthe signal on lead indicating a second ball cycle and the signal on lead133 which occurs at the beginning of a printing operation. Thus, the ANDcircuit 164 will produce an output signal which is applied through ORcircuit 129 to reset the counter 104 to ten when no standing pins arecounted by the counter 102; when the bowler is in a second ball scoringcycle; and when the printing cycle begins.

Now that the counter 104 has been reset to ten, the

leads 1048 and 104-2 will have OFF signals thereon.

These signals are applied to AND circuit 171 together with an OFF signalat the output of inverter 148, which occurs only during a second ballcycle, to apply an OFF signal to OR circuit O-l. Thus, OR circuits 0-8,04 and O-l will now be enabled to produce OFF signals corresponding tothe code shown for the spare sector shown in FIG. 2.

If a foul occurs, the computer control circuit 98 produces an OFF signalon lead which passes through OR circuits O-1, O-2, O4 and O-S to thelamps A1, A2, A4 and A8 or B1, B2, B4 and B8, depending upon whether theplayer is in a first 'ball or second ball cycle. The signal on lead 170may be produced by any of the well-known foul detectors including alight beam and photocell arrangement wherein the light beam isinterrupted when the foot of the bowler passes over the foul line.Provided on each disc 70 and 90 is the sector marked (F), FIG. 2, inwhich the 1, 2, 4 and 8 sectors are opaque. Consequently, the printingcharacter indicative of a foul (F) is aligned with this particularsector whereby the printing wheel will stop at this position when a fouloccurs.

The foregoing procedure will occur during the first nine frames in agame. However, as is well known, the bowler may be entitled in the tenthframe of the game to a third or bonus ball. When this condition occurs,a signal appears on lead to enable the AND circuits CA-l to CA-8, theoutputs of which are connected to lamps C1-C8, respectively. The mannerin which the signal is produced on lead 180 may be understood byreference to the aforesaid copending application Ser. No. 175,865;however other and different ways may be utilized for this purpose ifdesired. As was mentioned above, the third disc 92 must have the 1, 2and 3 sectors thereon together with all of the sectors indicating marks.In all cases, whenever none of the photocells are energized, the discand its associated gear and printing wheel will stop at the blankposition where it prints nothing on the score sheet.

If it is desired to print an indication of a split (0), a pushbutton 168associated with the motor control circuit 134 of FIG. 3B is depressed.This causes the motor 32 to rotate through a sufiicient number ofrevolutions to rotate each of the gears 24, 48 and 60 through twocomplete revolutions. At the same time, depression of pushbutton 168causes energization of lead 180 and also lead 136. That is, OFF signalsare applied to both of the leads 180 and 136. It will be noted that thelead 136 is connected to the OR circuits O-2, O-4 and O-8. Therefore,OFF signals will be applied to AND circuits CA-Z, CA-4 and CA-8. TheseOFF signals, together with the OFF signal on lead 180, energize lampsC-Z, C-4 and C8. Consequently, the disc 92 will stop at the sectormarked shown in FIG. 2, and will print the split indication (0) adjacentthe second ball results box.

As an alternative to the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 wherein discs 70,90 and 92 are utilized apart from the gears 24, 48 and 60, the gearsthemselves may be constructed of transparent material having sectorsthereon divided into opaque ring sectors as shown in FIG. 2. In thiscase, the lamps A1-A8 will be on one side of the gear 24; whereas thephotocell 72 will be on the other side.

Discs such as that" shown in FIG. 2 can be used not only for the actualprinting operation, but also for the purpose of positioning the printingwheels over the proper player line and frame preparatory to a printingoperation. One type of printing apparatus with which the presentinvention may be used is shown in FIG. 4 wherein the type wheels 196 aremounted on a cantilever arm 198 comprising the three coaxial shafts 20,46 and 58 shown in FIG. 1. Cantilever printing apparatus of this type isthe subject of copending application Ser. No. 305,591, filed Aug. 30,1963, and assigned to the assignee of the present application. Theprinting apparatus per se is housed within a console 200 with thecantilever arm 198 projecting outwardly through an elongated slot 202.In this particular case, two score sheets 204 and 206 are arranged insideby-side relationship on top of a table 208. The score sheet 204, forexample, would be that provided for one team in league play; whereas thescore sheet 206 would be provided for the other team.

The manner in which the type wheels 196 are positioned over a particularplayer line and frame is shown in FIG. 5. Essentially, the apparatuscomprises a first carriage 210 mounted on wheels 212 for reciprocatingmovement along tracks or guideways 214. The carriage 210 is actuated bymeans of a screw drive 216 driven by motor 218. Carried on the carriage210 is a second carriage 220 mounted on wheels 222 for movement ontracks 224 at right angles to the movement of carriage 210. In otherwords, the two carriages 210 and 220 move in quadrature with the car-'riage 210 moving along the player lines of the score sheets 204 and 206and the carriage 220 moving along the successive frame boxes. Thecarriage 220 is driven by means of a screw drive 226 connected to amotor 228.

With reference now to FIG. 6, connected to the shaft of motor 218through gear reducer 230 is a disc 232 similar to the disc 70 shown inFIG. 2. In a similar manner, the motor 228 has connected thereto throughgear reducer .234 a second disc 236 which is also similar to the disc 70shown in FIG. 2. On one side of the disc 232 are four lamps 238 while onthe other side is a photocell 240. In a similar manner, four lamps 242are on one side of the disc 236 while a photocell 244 is on the otherside. Each group of lamps 238 and 242 is connected to a first framecounting and storage circuit 246 for one team in league play and also toa second circuit 248 for a second team. Provided on each of the circuits246 and 248 are player switches A-l to 13-1 and A-2 to E-2 for the firstand second teams, respectively. The system is such that when a bowlerprepares to bowl his associated switch will be closed. This may beaccomplished by means of a manually-operated pushbutton or automaticallywhen each player picks his bowling ball out of an assigned storagepocket. Alternatively, the switches may be closed in sequence in anarrangement such as that shown in the Millman et al. Patent 2,590,444.In any case, when a bowler prepares to bowl his associated switch willbe closed. Closure of this switch is then utilized to energize a numberof the lamps 238 defining a code which will stop the motor 218 throughmotor control circuit 250 when the player line is reached on the properscore sheet 204 or 206 corresponding to the code defined by theenergized lamps. At the same time, when the players pushbutton isdepressed, the lamps 242 will be energized in accordance with a code tostop the motor 228 through motor control circuit 252 at the framecorresponding to the frame information stored in circuit 246 or 248.

Although the invention has been shown in connection with certainspecific embodiments, it will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art that various changes in form and arrangement of parts may bemade to suit requirements without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In apparatus of the type in which a rotatable member may be rotatedto a predetermined angular position and stopped, the combination of adisc member coaxial with said rotatable member and rotatable therewithas a unit, a plurality of stationary light sources spaced along theradius of said disc member on one side thereof and arranged to directlight beams against one side of the disc member, a photocell positionedon the other side of the disc member opposite said light sources andadapted to conduct an electrical current whenever light from one or moreof said sources falls thereon, said disc member being divided intoseparated and discrete arcuate sectors, all but one of said sectorshaving one or more ring sectors therein which are opaque and radiallyaligned with one or more of said light sources, means for energizing oneor more of said light sources while simultaneously rotating therotatable member and disc member until that sector having opaque ringsectors aligned with all energized light sources reaches the location ofthe light sources and photocell to block all light from the photocell,and means responsive solely to decreased current flow through thephotocell with no light thereon for stopping the disc member androtatable member.

2. In printing apparatus of the type in which a printing wheel havingprinting type on its periphery may be rotated to a predetermined angularposition and stopped with a selected one of the type on its peripheryadjacent sheet material or the like which is to be printed; thecombination of a disc member coaxial with said printing wheel androtatable therewith as a unit, said disc member being formed frommaterial which will permit light to pass therethrough, a plurality ofstationary light sources spaced along the radius of said disc member onone side thereof and arranged to direct light beams against said oneside of the disc member, a photocell positioned on the other side of thedisc member opposite said light sources and adapted to conduct anelectrical current whenever light from one or more of said sources fallsthereon, said disc member being divided into separated and discretearcuate sectors, one sector for each printing type on the periphery ofthe printing wheel, all but one of said sectors having one or more ringsectors therein which are opaque and radially aligned with one or moreof said light sources, means for energizing one or more of said lightsources while simultaneously rotating the printing wheel and disc memberuntil that sector having opaque ring sectors aligned with all energizedlight sources reaches the location of the light sources and photocell toblock all light from the photocell, and means responsive solely todecreased current flow through the photocell with no light thereon forstopping the disc member and printing wheel.

3. In apparatus for converting standing pin count in a bowling game tofallen pin count in accordance with the equations:

FP1= and FF 2:19P 1-SP 2 where FP represents fallen pins after the firstball, FP represents fallen pins after the second ball, SP representsstanding pins after the first ball, and SP represents standing pinsafter the second ball; the combination of means for producing electricalquantities in binary code form representative of SP and SP respectively,a device responsive to the electrical quantity representative of SP forelectrically subtracting said quantity from ten to obtain an electricalquantity in binary code form representative of FP and a second deviceresponsive to the electrical quantities representative of SP and SP forsubtracting the quantity representative of SP from that representativeof SP to obtain an electrical quantity in binary code formrepresentative of FP 4. In apparatus for converting standing pin countin a bowling game to fallen pin count in accordance with the equations:

FP =10SP and FP2=SP1 SP2 where FP represents fallen pins after the firstball, FP represents fallen pins after the second ball, SP representsstanding pins after the first ball, and SP represents standing pinsafter the second ball; the combination of means for producing electricalquantities in binary code form representative of SP and SP respectively,a device responsive to the electrical quantity representative of SP forelectrically subtracting said quantity from ten to obtain an electricalquantity in binary code form representative of FP a second deviceresponsive to the electrical quantities representative of SP and SP forsubtracting the quantity representative of SP from that representativeof SP to obtain an electrical quantity in binary code formrepresentative of FP and printing apparatus operable in response to theelectrical quantities in binary code form representative of FP and FPfor printing indications of the pinfall achieved with the first andsecond balls of a bowling game frame.

5. In apparatus for converting standing pin count in a bowling game tofallen pin count in accordance with the equations:

FP 10SP and FP =SP SP where FP represents fallen pins after the firstball, FP represents fallen pins after the second ball, SP representsstanding pins after the first ball, and SP represents standing pinsafter the second ball; the combination of means for producing numbers ofpulses equal to the number of standing pins after the first and secondball deliveries in a bowling game, a first counting device preset to tenand adapted to receive pulses equal to SP whereby said pulses equal toSP are subtracted from ten to derive steadystate signals in binary formindicative of FP a second counting device preset to zero upon thedelivery of a first ball in a bowling game frame and adapted to countpulses equal to SP means operable after the first ball delivery in abowling game frame but before the second ball delivery for resettingsaid first counting device to zero and for transferring the number ofpulses in binary form equal to SP counted by the second counter to saidfirst counter, and means for thereafter subtracting pulses equal to SPfrom the previously-stored pulses equal to SP in the first counter toderive steady-state signals in binary form indicative of FP 6. Thecombination of claim 5 wherein the counting device and said secondcounting means are formed from transistor flip-flop units connected incascade.

7. The combination of claim 5 wherein pulses equal to SP are counted bythe second counter after it is reset to zero at the completion of afirst ball delivery, and including means for subtracting said pulsesequal to SP counted by the second counter from ten after the second balldelivery to obtain a number of pulses equal to the total pinfallachieved with the first and second balls of a frame.

8. The combination of claim 5 wherein pulses equal to SP are counted bythe second counter after it is reset to zero at the completion of afirst ball delivery, including means for subtracting said pulses equalto SP counted by the second counter from ten after the second ball de-16 livery to obtain a number of pulses equal to the total pinfallachieved with the first and second balls of a frame, and a total pincounter for counting the pulses equal in number to the total pinfall foreach frame.

9. In apparatus of the type in which a rotatable member may be rotatedto a predetermined angular position and stopped, the combination ofmeans for actuating a device for stopping the rotatable member at saidpredetermined angular position, comprising a disc member connected tosaid rotatable member so as to rotate therewith, light source means onone side of the disc member, photocell means on the other side of thedisc member directly opposite said light source means, said disc memberbeing divided into separated and discrete arcuate sector divided intoopaque and light-transmitting portions such that the current through thephotocell means will be varied when a selected one of said sectorspasses between the light source means and photocell means, and meansresponsive to a variation in current through the photocell means foractuating said device for stopping the rotatable member.

10. In apparatus for converting standing pin count in a bowling game tofallen pin count and for printing first and second fallen pin count on ascore sheet, the combination of means for producing electricalquantities in binary code form representative of the number of standingpins remaining after delivery of the first ballin a bowling game and thenumber of standing pins remaining after the delivery of a second ball ina bowling game respectively, a device responsive to the electricalquantityrepresentative of standing pins after delivery of the first ballfor electrically subtracting said quantity from ten to obtain anelectrical quantity in binary code form representative of the number offallen pins after the delivery of the first ball, a second deviceresponsive to the electrical quantities representative of the number ofstanding pins after the first ball and the number of standing pins afterthe second ball for subtracting the quantity representative of thenumber of standing pins after the second ball from that representativeof the number of standing pins after the first ball to obtain anelectrical quantity in binary code form representative of the number offallen pins after delivery of the second ball, and printing apparatusoperable in response to the electrical quantities in binary codeformrepresentative of the number of fallen pins after delivery of thefirst ball and the number of fallen pins after delivery of the secondball for printing indications of the pinfall achieved with the first andsecond balls of a bowling game frame, said printing apparatus includinga printing wheel having printing type on its periphery and adapted to berotated in successive steps to predetermined angular positions andstopped with selected ones of the type on its periphery indicative ofthe number of fallen pins after delivery of the first ball and thenumber of fallen pins after delivery of the second ball adjacent sheetmaterial or the like which is to be printed, a plurality of stationarylight sources which are energized by said electrical quantitiesrepresentative of the number of fallen pins after the first ball and thenumber of fallen pins after the second ball, a photocell responsive tolight from said light sources and adapted to conduct an electricalcurrent whenever light from any one or more of said sources fallsthereon, means connected to said printing wheel for interrupting thepath of light from said light sources to the photocell at thepredetermined angular positions of the printing wheel where the printingcharacters indicative of the number of fallen pins after the first balland the number of fallen pins after the second ball are adjacent thesheet material which is to be printed, and means responsive to decreasedcurrent flow through the photocell with no light thereon for stoppingthe printing wheel.

11. Apparatus for automatically computing bowling results and forproviding a cumulative running record of each game as it is played, saidresults being computed from the output of a standing pin sensing meanswhich provides a plurality of electric pulses on a single line in- 1 7dicative of the number of standing pins remaining after delivery of aball in a bowling game, which comprises a first input means forreceiving a signal indicating that a first or second ball in a frame hasbeen rolled; a second input means for receiving a signal indicating thata player has committed a foul, an electronic switching means including acounting means for accumulating the pulses at the output of saidStanding pin sensing means, said switching means further including meansresponsive to the signals at said first and second input means upon therolling of a ball and to the non-occurrence of a foul, respectively, andresponsive to said counting means for deriving from said accumulatedpulses a number of pulses representing the fallen pin count, means forcomputing from said derived pulses a correct running cumulative scorefor the player rolling said ball for each frame including the recog-References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,058,005 10/1962 Hurvtz 340-347X 3,158,090 11/1964 Wasserman 340347 X 3,295,849 1/1967 Miller 23522 XMAYNARD R. WILBUR, Primary Examiner.

G. J. MAIER, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN APPARATUS OF THE TYPE IN WHICH A ROTATABLE MEMBER MAY BE ROTATEDTO A PREDETERMINED ANGULAR POSITION AND STOPPED, THE COMBINATION OF ADISC MEMBER COAXIAL WITH SAID ROTATABLE MEMBER AND ROTATABLE THEREWITHAS A UNIT, A PLURALITY OF STATIONARY LIGHT SOURCES SPACED ALONG THERADIUS OF SAID DISC MEMBER ON ONE SIDE THEREOF AND ARRANGED TO DIRECTLIGHT BEAMS AGAINST ONE SIDE OF THE DISC MEMBER, A PHOTOCELL POSITIONEDON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DISC MEMBER OPPOSITE SAID LIGHT SOURCES ANDADAPTED TO CONDUCT AN ELECTRICAL CURRENT WHENEVER LIGHT FROM ONE OR MOREOF SAID SOURCES FALLS THEREON, SAID DISC MEMBER BEING DIVIDED INTOSEPARATED AND DISCRETE ARCUATE SECTORS, ALL BUT ONE OF SAID SECTORSHAVING ONE OR MORE RING SECTORS THEREIN WHICH ARE OPAQUE AND RADIALLYALIGNED WITH ONE OR MORE OF SAID LIGHT SOURCES, MEANS FOR ENERGIZING ONEOR MORE OF SAID LIGHT SOURCES WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY ROTATING THEROTATABLE MEMBER AND DISC MEMBER UNTIL THAT SECTOR HAVING OPAQUE RINGSECTORS ALIGNED WITH ALL ENERGIZED LIGHT SOURCES REACHES THE LOCATION OFTHE LIGHT SOURCES AND PHOTOCELL TO BLOCK ALL LIGHT FROM THE PHOTOCELL,AND MEANS RESPONSIVE SOLELY TO DECREASED CURRENT FLOW THROUGH THEPHOTOCELL WITH NO LIGHT THEREON FOR STOPPING THE DISC MEMBER ANDROTATABLE MEMBER.